


venom dripping in your mouth

by MythologicalHoe



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different Powers, Alternate Universe - Library, Blindness, Ex-convicts, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Inspired by Daredevil and the Punisher, Kylo Ren Issues, Kylo Ren Redemption, Psychologists & Psychiatrists, Rey Needs A Hug, Some dark themes, Vigilantism, blind rey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-17 10:24:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17558621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythologicalHoe/pseuds/MythologicalHoe
Summary: Everyone has something that they consider a curse in their life. For Ben, it seems to be the fact that no matter what, he seems to destroy everything he touches. He has a pain tolerance beyond that of any regular man, and strength that’s above average. Maybe that’s part of what ends him up in jail on a count of murder. If it wasn’t for his mother pulling some strings behind her son’s back, he would’ve been locked up for life, and he certainly wouldn’t have been able to get a job in a library where everything was quiet. Just like he needed.Rey is a psychologist who goes with her friend Finn to pick up Rose, who’s studying for exams. She has her own curses. The two of them click when they meet.





	1. Chapter 1

If Rey had ever disagreed with the law, she disagreed with the idea that premeditated murder of someone who was a confirmed child predator should get the perpetrator jail time. Alas, judges didn’t seem to agree with her for the most part on that front. Her current client, Lyn Me, was an ex convict that had been in that exact situation. There was a lot to unpack when it came to her. Lyn had told her once that the reason that she chose Rey was because she was blind. She felt more comfortable when someone wasn’t looking her in the eyes. Like Rey said, a lot to unpack. “Should we start with something simple, today?”

 

“Is it ever really simple?” Lyn retorted. Her tone was shaky today and Rey knew that sometimes making a lot of progress in a day wasn’t the goal of the session. Sometimes, it was more to just make the client feel a little bit better than they did before they came in. She considered that as progress too.

 

“Unpacking feelings isn’t,” Rey said, “so I was thinking that maybe the two of us could do something else.” She gestured to the table and the two boxes.

 

 

“I hope you like it.” She said. “Polly, my Amazon text to speech converter wasn’t working so well, I think it might just be my computer though so I had to get my friend to order them for me. Knock yourself out. Make something, do whatever makes you feel better and then describe it to me.”

 

She could hear the sounds of rustling, at first it was hesitant, but she could tell that Lyn was getting more into it the more that she worked. “I’m done.” She said about twenty five minutes into her session. 

 

“Tell me about it,” Rey said, “what does it look like?”

 

“I chose the bottle one,” Lyn told her, “there’s a bunch of colored sands that remind me of the sea. And there was little things that you could put in it like shells and little fake pearls so I made it look like the sea. It starts dark blue at the bottom of the bottle and goes light all the way up at the top.”

 

“Interesting.” Rey said. “How does it make you feel?”

 

“Happy.” Lyn said. "But sad at the same time." 

 

“The sea makes you feel nostalgic, perhaps?”

 

“Yeah,” Lyn said, “there’s no one there to judge you. When my mom and dad were still together, my dad and I would go on boat trips together. It was just an escape.”

 

“Sometimes escapes are good.” Rey said. 

 

“As long as you don’t spend all your time trying to escape.”

 

* * *

 

 

Ben didn’t want to live. He hadn’t for a while, especially after everything that he had done. But his mother had insisted on pulling strings, and getting him out of the situation that he had created for himself. She told him that what he did was understandable, and that he deserved a second chance at life. One that he didn’t want. But he got back into the swing of things when he had found a job in about a mile out of the city and closer to the suburbs. It was in a library that was pretty quiet. He liked it that way. Quiet.

 

Everything was easier when it was quiet and he could focus better. Easier to control his anger that had gotten him here in the first place. Plus, when it was quieter he was better on working on things that would better himself.

 

He was good at being a librarian, read a lot in his freedom, and enjoyed the fact that he didn’t really have to be a very hospitable person to anyone. He just sort books in the back and a few sections in the mystery section.

 

No one really went around him and he liked that. No one asked questions about him and he liked that a lot.

 

There were the same few people that always came into the library. A student that came here for a quiet place to study and leech off the wifi, a man who always checked out the same novels about some soldier guy that even Ben, an ex marine felt were badly written and vaguely racist against people with a darker skin tone than white out. A girl and her mother, the mother who looked like she drank one too many glasses of wine as the daughter sat there and read as many books as she can. That one little girl also asked him for Agatha Christie novels that the mother wouldn’t let her read a few times.

 

They were always here.

 

No one else ever came through that door, not ever.

 

Until one did. She came with a guy that hung around the college student a lot. She was blind, dressed almost like some sort of lawyer or something but that wasn’t it. She didn’t look like the type of person that wanted to be a lawyer.

 

She was something else. The both of them were talking and happy and went to the girl. Ben did his best to try not to watch her.

 

He felt like a creep any time that he stared at someone. “Oh, wow.” Hux was another librarian in the department, and frankly, ten times more a dick than Ben could ever be. Which was — alot. To say the least. “A girl that you could actually go after considering that she can’t see that she’s way out of your league.” 

 

He thought he was funny. Ben grabbed the cart and promptly moved away from Hux and two aisles down.

 

 

He had been shelving books for quite a while before turning and colliding straight into the blind girl from before. “Oh, shit. Sorry. Sorry.” She turned a little, smiling. 

 

 

“No problem,” She said. “I was actually looking for someone who might be able to help me, sorry for running into you.” 

 

 

“I probably ran into you,” He told her, “but it’s fine. Uh, what do you need help with?” 

 

 

“I was wondering if your library offered any braille? Specifically true crime?” 

 

 

“Oh, yes. We do. Not a lot, but I can definitely find you something that you might like.” She smiled at him and he asked her, “What are you looking for?” He asked her. 

 

 

“Got anything with a sympathetic killer?” That struck him as odd, just the way she said that. But he didn’t judge.

 

 

“I think that I do,” He told her. “So uh, I haven’t seen you around here before.” 

 

 

“Yeah. I’m Rey by the way.” Rey said, “I’m usually so busy that I don’t get a lot of time to read. But I used to a lot, to wind down and everything and I think that I should get back into it.” 

 

 

“Ben,” He told her, “and yeah I think that reading is a great way to destress.” He pulled two books down. “There’s a few things that uh, should keep you busy.” Rey grabbed the two books that he had given her and smiled again. 

 

 

“It was nice to meet you, Ben. Thanks for the help.” She left with that, and Ben was left wondering if he would work the day that she returned the books. 

 

* * *

  
  


 

Rey had gone back to Finn and let him help her check out. Rose was right behind them when Finn started to talk, “So,” He said, “saw you talking with a librarian early.” 

 

 

“Ooh, Rey actually talking to guys. Who would know?” 

 

 

“He sounded hot,” Rey shrugged. 

 

 

“Oh trust me,” Finn was almost whispering. “He’s hot.” The both of them giggled a little and went outside. Today was nice and sunny, but not so hot that Rey would be irritated by it. “Did you get his name, peanut?” 

 

 

“Ben,” 

 

 

“Oh, Ben.” Rose said. “That’s a nice name, was he manly?” 

 

 

“He was big,” Finn said. 

 

 

“You two love objectifying men, don’t you?” 

 

“Oh come on, if you could see guys you would be doing the same thing.” Rey snorted and got into the car with the both of them. She wondered when she would meet up with him again. They almost connected. 

* * *

  
  


In the night, the criminals of the city feared the appearance of a woman in red. The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, the Seductress of the Night. Criminals trembled in her sight, but the people that were victims to those criminals praised that they would get home safe to their parents for another day. That was the point of the job that she did. 

 

She helped people. She believed in redemption, even for the people that did wrong. She had done wrong in her life before too, she had come back from that. Other people could too, if they really wanted to. They just had to do something that would better at themselves, get the help that they need. Then they would be free. 

  
  


* * *

 

This wasn’t a clientele meeting. This was something else. Rey sat in a fancy restaurant she was sure that she couldn’t afford just because of the sound of the glassware that was put on their table. A  woman named Leia Organa sat across from her. “So,” Leia said, “you’re one of the best psychologists in New York. What are you doing in Hell’s Kitchen, surely you can afford better?” 

 

“To be completely honest,” Rey said, “I think that I’m better equipped helping people who are less fortunate. Not the one percenters. There’s plenty psychologists that do that sort of thing. Not me.” 

 

“You work with excons?”

 

“Not exclusively, but a lot of the people I do work with have had a criminal record in the past. I tend to not really care about what mistakes the person has done, as long as they’re reaching out for help, I think that they should be afforded the help that they need.” 

 

Leia sipped some of the water that she had ordered. Something told Rey that she liked that answer. “I have a son,” She told Rey, “he’s out of jail and I think that maybe he needs some sort of help.” 

 

“Respectfully, Miss Organa.” Rey said, “I need for the person that needs therapy to come to me. It’s just better to go to therapy of your own volition, not because you feel like you’re being forced to. Does that make sense?” 

 

“Just hear me out,” She wasn’t listening, “a lot of really bad things have happened to him.” A lot of really bad things have happened to a lot of people. “He uh, in the war, I think something messed with him. Actually, I know that something messed with him. He survived being shot in the head. He couldn’t remember a lot of stuff for a really long time, and that made him really angry, not being able to do the things that he used to be able to do.” 

 

“I’m sure that that did take a toll on him.” 

 

“He ended up remembering someone that abused him as a kid in some not so nice ways.” Rey had heard enough stories to know where this was going. “He murdered the man, Tarkin, and he was going to jail for it. He was in pieces, and I got him out of there after pulling some strings. I need to know that he’s getting the help he needs.”  Rey sighed. She wished that she could help. 

 

“Then maybe you should talk to him.” Rey said. “I know that communication can be hard, but you need to tell him that you’re worried about him without making him feel threatened, without making him feel like there’s a chance he might be admitted to a ward. Maybe then you could push him in my direction but until then, I don’t think just signing him up for therapy will be very good for either of you.” The other woman finally got what she was saying. “I’m so sorry, Miss Organa.” She said. “That I can’t help you right now. But if you get him to come to me, I would be willing to work with him as I do all my other clients.” 

 

 


	2. A Tragic Backstory and Moving Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like this!

 

Rey had a feeling that this meeting with Leia Organa’s son wasn’t going to go well. Her suspicions were confirmed the second that he came to the table. “Really, mom.” 

“Here me out,” 

“Absolutely not,” Ben said, “I don’t want her as my therapist.” Was the first thing that came out of his mouth when he had lunch with her and Leia. Rey smirked, she knew exactly who this was. The man from the library.

“You work at the library, don’t you?” She said. 

“You two know each other?” Leia asked. Rey could tell that the politician was confused. 

“No, not really. I was checking out books and he helped me. That is all.” She could hear Ben turn to his mother uncomfortably. 

“I don’t know why—” 

“Ben,” 

“I know why he doesn’t want me as a therapist, and honestly I’m perfectly fine as that.” She smiled still, knowing full well that his heart was beating faster than usual. He was getting flustered. “So here’s what I’m going to do, I’m going to get back to you with the contact information of some great therapists. Hopefully that will help the situation.” 

“He’s not giving you a chance—” 

“It’s not that, Miss Organa. I think it’s something else entirely. Why don’t we just eat instead?” 

* * *

 

When Leia got into her limo, Rey could hear Ben running to catch up with her. “Can I walk you home?” 

“Sure,” Rey said. “That’s so nice of you.” 

“I just, I wanted to say sorry for how I acted back there. I was kind of a dick.” 

“No, you weren’t,” Rey rolled her eyes. “I know why you were that way.” He was silent for a minute, as they got to a street corner and Rey waited to cross the street. Instinctively, he grabbed her hand.  _Sweet, but not necessary._ Rey thought to herself. 

“Oh?” 

“Yes,” Rey said. She knew that his heart was beating faster again. He was getting nervous. She waited for him to say something. When they were almost back to her apartment complex, he did.

“I want to get to know you more,” He said. “And it kind of disappointed me that you immediately found out that I had a criminal record.” 

“I really don’t care what you did, Ben.” She said. “I’m not a judgmental person.” The two of them stopped. 

“Really?” 

“Really.” Rey said. “You’re a free man, you’ve got a good job now. You’re being honest, begrudgingly searching for a therapist. That’s honorable. And you having a criminal record is no reason for me to stop myself from having the pleasure of getting to know you.” She was sure that he hadn’t heard that a lot. 

“The things that I did, weren’t good.” 

“Did you rape anyone?” 

“Oh, gods no.” 

“Then you’re a perfectly redeemable person in my book.” Rey said. “And we should go get coffee sometimes.” They started to walk again. Her apartment was right on the line between Hell’s Kitchen and the better parts of New York. She knew exactly where it was and stopped in front of the complex. 

“That would be great,” Ben seemed shocked. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, it’s just that I didn’t expect... I thought that I really fucked that up.” 

“You didn’t fuck that up.” Rey giggled. “So uh, here’s my phone.” She gave him her Blackberry. “Old, I know. But I like feeling the buttons.” He laughed a little, saying something about how he didn’t know shit about technology so he didn’t blame her. She let him enter himself into her contacts and smiled. “I’ll call you.” She said. “See you later, Ben.” 

“See you later, Rey.” 

* * *

 

During the war, Ben felt like he had a purpose. He would be lying if he said that he was just a Marine. And that’s what he had to tell his mother all the time. That way she wouldn’t look at him like he was a monster. She probably thought that anyways, though. When Ben Solo was in the war, he was part of an operation of elite. 

Now that he thought of it, basically men that were ordered to kill anyone the government wanted without thinking. Ben was considered one of the best, able to cause destruction wherever he went. That was, until he was shot in the head. Somehow, he survived, somehow, he was sent home. 

He remembered those days when he was trying to be rehabilitated. How frustrating not remembering everything was and he absolutely hated it. He hated the feeling of feeling weak, and that was the only feeling that he could feel. Weakness. It was awful and it was humiliating. And then it came. Hell, or memories of it. 

He wished that he could cry about it, but there was no use for it. 

Instead he had to act. 

Damn the consequences. 

* * *

 

Rey called Ben the next day after one of her clients had to be sent home because he had the flu. “Hi,” She said. “Sorry, this is Rey. I’m not good at starting up phone calls.” Rey felt herself smiling, thinking about him. 

“Hi, Rey.” He said. “What’s up?” 

“I was wondering if you wanted to schedule a time to get coffee?” 

“Oh, right. Yeah. I’m off today, so if you want to go now--” 

“Right,” Rey said. She gave him his address, “You can pick the place, I’m not really that picky.” Rey bit her lip. 

“Okay, uh I’ll be there in about thirty minutes? Does that work for you?” 

“That works perfectly.” She found herself a little bit nervous, but she could hear his breath on the other side of the phone. It made her feel a little bit better that he was nervous as well. “See you then.” She finally said. 

Rey hung up, feeling heat starting to rise to her cheeks. Maybe this was a little quick, but she always hung around the same three people over, and over, and over again. She called up Finn next. “Hey,” She said. 

“Sup, peanut.” 

“Remember that hot guy from the library,” 

“Yeah?” 

“I’m gonna go get coffee with him in about thirty minutes to an hour?” 

“That’s great, peanut!” Finn was whispering, and Rey decided that he was probably at work. “Finally getting out and meeting some new people. That’s great. I have to go now so you have to tell me how it went later, okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah.” She said. “Just hope this isn’t a pity date with a blind girl.” 

“Does it feel like that?” 

“No,” Rey said. 

“Then it isn’t that. Don’t let yourself talk a good thing down when you haven’t experienced it yet. Okay?” 

“Okay,” She said, “you’re right. You’re right.” 

“I know I am, peanut. Now get ready for your coffee date. You’re going to be great.” 


	3. Going Downhill Fast

 

**_Ten Hours Later_ **

Rey’s muscles were twitching, ready to go into action, but she knew that if she did, she would immediately have her cover blown to Ben Solo. Which would suck more than anything. “We’re looking for a man named Kylo Ren,” 

“I have no idea who you’re talking about,” Rey cried, she pretended to be innocent, pretended to be just another unsuspecting citizen. 

“Better known as Ben Solo, come on bitch! I know that you know who I’m talking about! I saw you two earlier.” At the coffee shop. That was fucking great, what the hell was this guy into? Was his name really Ben Solo? Or was it Kylo Ren? She didn’t know. All she knew was that she wasn’t going to give him up. The cold barrel of the gun pressed to her head when she heard shooting and gun fire, a floor down. Five gunmen, one independent. 

* * *

**_Ten Hours Earlier_ **

Rey knew that Ben was nervous. “So uh, what do you want to talk about?” 

“Well, we’re getting to know each other. So, let’s just start with the basic stuff?” Rey knew that she wasn’t good at the small stuff. “I’ll start out. Uh, my favorite color is green.” 

“How can you have a favorite color when you can’t see?” He laughed nervously. 

“Used to be able to see.” Rey said. “We don’t have to talk about it, though. You know? What’s your favorite color?” 

“Blue,” He said. They kept walking until Ben grabbed her hand and they turned a corner. He asked the next question. “So, how long have you been practicing psychology? You don’t seem that old to me.” 

“Wow,” Rey snickered, “yeah uh, two years but my partner died and I took over his business. Also, kind of made a name for myself within the ex-convict community because I just so happen to be one of the only therapists in New York that most of their insurances can afford.” 

“You like helping people, that’s good.” 

“Thank you.” Rey said. “So, Ben. As a librarian, what’s your favorite genre of book?” 

“That’s like asking a mother to choose her favorite child,” He said, “I like all of them, equally.” 

“Well you’re just going to have to humor me,” Rey said. “Pick your top three.” 

“Hm, this is going to be a weird combination then, but True Crime, Contemporary, and Romantics.” 

“Like  _cliché woman saves dark and brooding man_ sort of romantic or,  _King Arthur and his Loyal Knights romantic?”_

 _“_ Glad that you know the difference,” Ben told her. “While both are really good, King Arthur is my favorite though.” Rey liked that. She remembered reading as much King Arthur as she could when she was a child. Even after the accident happened and she had to turn to Braille, trying to learn as much as she could as quickly as she could. She remembered feeling so frustrated that she was having trouble learning it. That she had no one to comfort her in her situation. It was more than awful. “Let me guess, your favorite genre is True Crime?” 

“I thought that picking a genre was like telling a mother to pick a favorite child,” Rey smirked, her cane tapping on the pavement as Ben told her to step down as they crossed the street. He reassured her that they were almost there. 

“Yeah well, I’m pretty sure if my mother had a second child that second child would be her favorite.” Family issues. That was good to know. They had something in common. “Sorry, that was unnecessary.” 

“Everyone has their issues,” Rey said, “sometimes joking about it can be one of the best ways to cope. Depends on the person though, and it seems like your mom loves you very much so that probably isn’t true.” 

* * *

**_Ten Hours Later_ **

“Let go of her!” A very aggressive voice said. It was him. He was at the bottom of the stairs. She closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. There was another heartbeat. Someone was right beside him was being restrained and was in bad, bad shape. “If you so much as pull one hair on her head, I swear to fuck that I am going to kill you.” That was definitely Ben. What the fuck had she gotten herself into? She knew for a fact that she wasn’t going to be the reason any more people got killed tonight. 

She wasn’t that type of person. Even if that meant that she was going to have her cover blown to Ben. As far as she was concerned, he just killed three other people, even if it was completely out of self-defense. He had no room to judge her if he knew how she worked. If he knew what she did. At this point, she had the moral high ground. 

When the man pushed her forward, she could estimate the distance between her hands, her head and the gun of the other man. It didn’t take long to disarm a man, go for the wrist, grab his gun, and then take it away from him. She pointed it down and shot him through the knee cap. The next thing she knew Ben was yelling and coming upstairs, only to see her with a gun. She turned and thought maybe she should act scared. Maybe she should pretend she was as blind as she claimed that she was and maybe, just maybe he would believe it. 

“Rey, put the gun down.” His voice was so soft, not like it was just a minute before. It was a little bit disconcerting. Rey was shaking, but not because she was scared, but more because of the adrenaline rush. “Put the gun down. I know, I know you’re scared. Just, trust me Rey.” 

“What the hell is going on?” She said. 

“Someone figured out that I left prison and I’m not dead.” He said. “They tried to kill me and it wasn’t successful.” He was telling the truth. Rey could tell that. She dropped the gun. “I think that there’s more to you going on than you let on too. You just took a gun from a trained killer, that’s not something a blind woman can do.” 

* * *

**_Ten Hours Earlier_ **

“My favorite genre,” Rey sighed wistfully, “I love a lot of things. I guess it’s not really a genre but the books where the villains get redeemed.” Rey said. “I love those books the most.” 

“Really?” He said. “Let me ask you something, Rey. Are you Catholic? Believe that everyone can be saved?” 

“I used to be Catholic,” Rey said. “But I guess I carried over the belief that everyone – except for rapists and sex traffickers and racists – those people can die as far as I’m concerned.” 

“Amen to that,” He said. That’s when he helped her inside to the coffee shop. She ordered a caramel latte and he ordered black coffee. “I uh, also got some cookies.” He said after the both of them got the things they want. 

“Perfect,” Rey said. “Chocolate chip?” 

“You got a good nose,” Ben laughed. 

* * *

 

**_Ten Hours Later_ **

“So, you can’t really judge me.” Rey rolled her eyes. 

“Seriously, Ben.” They were in an abandoned building. She could yell as loud as she wanted for a few minutes before the police came and started investigating. “I got kidnapped for some trap where they tried to kill you and you murdered people!” 

“I thought you said that you weren’t in the business of judging anyone.” 

“I’m not.” 

“Then why the hell are you yelling at me.” 

“Because you’re trying to turn the fact that our date went wildly out of control into something about me.” 

“Come on.” Ben said. “You can’t just avoid that easily, Rey.” 

“Fine,” Rey said, “I’ll tell you one thing about me if you do the same. Do you got that? Do you got that Ben?” 

“Yes,” He said. A part of her was screaming to get out of here at this very moment, but she knew that it was best to stay here, especially if someone saw her leaving the building without any mask on. It was Hell’s Kitchen, but someone covered in blood was always raise suspicion. 

“I am blind,” She said, “But I can hear really well, all of my other senses are heightened and I know that probably sounds weird but it gives me this sort of radar or whatever.” 

“That doesn’t explain how you disarmed that guy so well, you know how to fight, and not just by average self-defense classes. You’ve done that before.” 

“You tell me something about you first. Who are the people coming after you right now, and am I going to be made a target because of this?” 

“I have a hunch that I know who it is but you won’t. And I’m guessing yeah, I’m sorry about that.” 

“That doesn’t answer my question. Who are they?” 

Silence. 

“They’re owned by a guy named Snoke, he’s a war lord and a criminal and he used to be my boss. Is that good enough for you?” There was a lot to unpack in that sentence. “Listen, I can’t tell you that much more about him because I was shot in the head and still don’t remember a lot of stuff that went on back then.” He was telling the truth again. 

“I’m the vigilante of Hell’s Kitchen,” Rey said. There was a silence. He couldn’t tell if she was lying or not. “I’m not lying to you, you want to know why I fight so well and that’s the reason I fight so well. Take it or leave it.” 

“You really have no place to judge me for what just happened here,” He said. Rey closed her eyes, hearing the faint sounds of sirens in the distance. 

“We need to leave.” Rey said. 

“Like hell we do,” 

“No,” Rey said, “Ben, listen to me. We need to go. Be quiet.” He shut up like she asked him to, which was a relief. He heard the sirens too. 

“Oh, shit.” 

“Are you wearing gloves right now?” She asked. 

“Yes,” He said. 

“And you’re not bleeding.” 

“Yes.” 

“Good.” She said.  “We need to go. Just make them think that it was a gang fight, okay? You can come clean up at my place.” She offered because he was right, she didn’t have a place to judge him. Especially with what she did. 

* * *

**_Ten Hours Earlier_ **

The date was fun. Until it wasn’t. 

Rey and Ben were walking outside when she was caught off-guard when an SUV drove up to the side of the street and pushed her into a van. She remembered momentarily being scared before catching her bearing. She still pretended that she was scared so that the captors thought that she wasn’t going to cause any trouble. 

Rey knew that she was going to get out of here, after she found out why she was being kidnapped.

* * *

**_Ten Hours Later_ **

Rey had gotten back to her apartment with Ben when she closed the door and locked the three different locks on her door. “Someone’s a little bit paranoid.” He grunted. 

“Have you ever gotten a patient obsessed with you and stalking you, Ben? If that’s even your real name? I don’t think so.” 

“Hey, not saying I was judging.” 

“Go to my bathroom.” She said. “Take a bath and set your clothes out for me to wash,” 

“You don’t have to do this.” 

“Just do what I said.” She told him. “You sure that no security cameras would have seen you on the way to the building?” 

“Yes,” Ben said, “I’ve done this before, Rey.” 

“Of course.” Rey rolled her eyes. “Well, do what I said. I’m going to make some coffee.” He was about to close the door to the bathroom when he turned around and stared at Rey.

“Rey,” He said. 

“Yes,” She replied. 

“Thank you for this,” 

“It’s the least I can do,” 


	4. why aren't you scared of me?

He was sleeping on her couch. Rey didn’t know if she should kick him out or not. Rey sighed, knowing that she should turn him in, but there was something keeping her from doing something. And it wasn’t the fact that he knew who she was now. There was something else. Rey went into her kitchen and rifled through the fridge, finding some left over pizza and heating it up. She could hear him shuffling around in the next room afterwards. Neither of them talked, but Rey set out an extra plate of pizza for him. “Do you know if anyone saw you? Did anyone see your face?” Rey asked. 

“The people who’ve seen my face aren’t going to go to the authorities and I avoided all security cameras.” 

“Good.” Rey said. “That’s good. You won’t have any trouble from me.” 

“Are you sure about that?” 

“Yes,” Rey sighed, “I know what it’s like to be in dire situations, and it’s stressful. Especially when you’re trying to start a new life.” Rey could feel him staring at her. He took the extra plate and started eating. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Not particularly,” He said, “no offense but I’m not much for the hippie dippie kumbaya shit.” 

“What? You mean therapy?” 

“Yeah, that.” He said between bites. If Rey could roll her eyes right now, she would have. “No offense, by the way.” 

“None taken.” Rey said. “I get that it can be hard to talk about your feelings, but if you decide that you want to you’d get no judgement from me.” She finally took her own piece of pizza and started working on it.  

“I don’t doubt it.” Ben told her. “But I’m more interested in the pizza right now,” 

* * *

  
  


Rey spent a lot of time washing the blood from her fingernails before she went back outside to Ben. Something made him uneasy about being here, like he still felt bad for dragging her into this and all when she was still a vigilante herself. Ben still wasn’t sure how the whole thing with Rey being able to hear everything like she’s seeing worked, but he had definitely seen weirder. 

Ben got up, heading for the door. He was kicking himself for ruining everything again, but he guessed that that was what he should have expected. “Where are you going?” Rey asked. 

“I was going to get out of your hair,” He told her, he felt bad when he said that. It sounded like he was just going to leave. That was exactly what he was going to do, but it seemed that Rey didn’t want that. 

“You’re not in my hair.” Her voice was way too soft and kind to be a vigilante. How exactly did she get to be in this line of work? He would have to ask her when he had enough time. “And we need to make sure that those people aren’t going to come after you again.” 

Ben laughed, “I can take care of myself.” 

“I know that you can, but I personally don’t want half of New York shot up in the process.” Ben shrugged at that, knowing that she was right. Still, part of the assumption that that would happen just hurt. He turned around. 

“Then what should I do?” 

“Wait a week,” Rey said, “call in sick.” 

“I don’t have a week of sick leave.” 

“Then wait two days,” Rey replied. “You’re welcome to stay here. I have food, you can use my Netflix account as well.” 

“You have a Netflix?” 

“Yeah, mainly for when my friends come over but they don’t come over often.” He couldn’t believe that it was Netflix that was getting him to stay in for the next two days. 

“I’ll humour you,” He turned around. 

“That’s good.” Rey smiled. She looked like she was excited, which was weird, considering the circumstances. Ben decided that of all things he should do, he should not question it. “That’s really good.” Ben got out his phone and called work saying that he had the flu before he hung up. 

“Don’t you have to go to work or something?” 

“In an hour,” Rey said, “but work isn’t that far away.” 

“Right.” 

“You’ll stay put, right?” 

“Yes.” He didn’t know if he would quite yet. He told her that because he knew that it would make her feel more at ease. “Why are you doing this?” 

“I thought that we already went through that.” She said. “I just want to help.” 

“You wouldn’t want to help if you knew everything that I’ve done.” That was right, there were so many things that were wrong with Ben. So many things that he did overseas were reprehensible enough to make Ben have night terrors. Ben hated it. He hated the weak feeling that he had in his stomach when he woke up every morning and when he went to bed every night. 

“Then tell me what you’ve done.” Rey said. She meant it too. He had never heard someone so unafraid and so serious.

“You said that you had work that you had to do.” Ben told her, “Go.” For now, that was enough to get her to go. He was left alone with not much else than her Netflix account and some left overs. Rey didn’t have the lights on, and it was dark enough that it was kind of hard to see where the light switch was. 

That was okay, Ben would make due even though he stubbed his toe one or two times. Ben watched some random show about Spanish kids pulling off a heist, not really paying attention to everything that was going on. He just used it as background noise for the most part. He was relaxed this way, despite the darkness Rey’s apartment felt homey. Ben helped himself to one of her blankets and fell asleep on the couch. He was exhausted.

The next time he got up was when Rey got home. “Hi,” She said when she walked into the living room. “I trust that you made yourself at home.” 

“Yeah,” Ben was blurry eyed.

“Good.” She told him. “I wanted to talk, you tried to brush me off earlier about what you did. I think that it’s time that you told me.” 


End file.
